Nokia's Here mapping service calls on the Indian community to help improve data

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Nokia's Here is launching its first community mapping program in India as it looks to combine its industrial data collection methods with a new crowd mapping initiative.

The pilot scheme uses a team of more than 1,000 people in the country, made up of local cartographers and experts from a dozen Indian universities. They will use Here's Map Creator tool to add missing streets. bridges and points of interest to local maps.

It has also built a community map moderation system which will help ensure accuracy and quality. Edits will have to be verified by the Here team and the community at large before they are added to the authorised mapping data. Changes are promised to occur within days after approval.

"Sophisticated mapmaking is already a human and capital-intensive business. Add to this the fact that the world around us is constantly evolving with the addition of new roads, new infrastructure and even new names, and cartographers simply can't keep up," said Michael Halbherr, executive vice-president of Here.

"In vibrant, fast-growing countries like India a community mapping approach, paired with input from the right experts, means Here can keep pace with the ever-evolving landscape so that our maps are never obsolete.

"Equally important, however, is not just the pure number of people contributing to our mapmaking community, but that we work with the right experts."

If successful, the Nokia company will look to extend the pilot to other countries.